


Superhero

by Aurora_Whisperwind



Series: Prism [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 21:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurora_Whisperwind/pseuds/Aurora_Whisperwind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was always forced to be in the shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Superhero

**Author's Note:**

> One-shot. Word theme was 'Isshin'. Written before his past was known, so no real spoilers.

Kurosaki Isshin loved comics. More precisely, superhero comics. Consisting of incredibly muscly men with perfect teeth and a horrid fashion sense, an anonymous city always under attack from aliens/under-sea monsters/super villains and enormously bosomed women whose clothes were so tight that it must have hurt to take a deep breath. Masaki would find it most amusing, the way he never, ever missed an issue and followed about a dozen different series at once. "What's so special about them? Aren't they for kids?" she had asked once. "Ah, what do you know," he had replied "there's something magical about the power they wield… the way they alone can change the world"

Her beautiful eyes had held his gaze, and her voice was soft as she said, "You have power as well, Isshin" He had smiled thoughtfully "I cannot… I cannot hold the world in my arms like them. I cannot save everyone I would like to save… it's not possible. I can't be the muscular man with the shiny smile preening in front of the hundreds of people whose lives I've made better. That's why… that's why I retreat to these dreams" She had hugged him them, suddenly, impulsively. He could still remember the smell of her hair, the tender caress of her long fingers and the warmth of her cheek.

When his son was born, he had quipped to her "Now I feel like Batman or better, Phantom, in a way. A Shinigami inside, a perfectly normal father outside." Masaki had laughed then, jostling the baby in her arms who opened his eyes sleepily to gaze at his father. "A perfectly normal father indeed! Our smart little boy will figure it out before he's two" But Ichigo hadn't. Because Isshin defied his beloved comic book scripts, and had acted so idiotic in front of the children that the first thing that they had learned about their father was that he was crazy. Plain insane, annoying and silly. Anything but a superhero.

But as he had held Masaki's cold hand that night, he felt a crushing helplessness he had never felt before. He had lost the most precious person in his life, and there was nothing he could have possibly done. She had died to protect their baby, while he had stayed in the shadows. He had kissed her unmoving lips, and said a final goodbye. And as the tears from his eyes fell on the lovely face that would never light up with a smile again, he had sworn to her that he would do his utmost to protect their children. Especially the bewildered little boy who wandered on the riverbank for days after, like a lost calf desperately seeking to understand why he was torn away from his mother. The sensitive boy who had spent the next six years blaming himself.

He had never read comics again after her death. What good were they, filled with people who could swoop in at the right time and make everything right? When he was obliged to be in disguise forever, regardless of what was happening around him?

The night his little boy took the life changing decision to become a Shinigami, he had felt fear creep into his heart again. At first he wanted to hate her the girl for giving Ichigo her powers and putting him in danger. His view changed however, on Masaki's death anniversary, when he found out what an unbelievable burden of guilt Ichigo was carrying around. He finally had a chance to kick his son back into his senses, though most of the healing was because of Rukia, who silently stood behind a tree and watched over Ichigo. At that moment, he felt grateful, more indebted to her than anyone else, for giving his son a chance to mend his heart.

Although he was proud to see how earnest and dedicated Ichigo was to his duty, he knew what all this would lead to. The temporary heaven his son and the beautiful young Shinigami had constructed for themselves would not last long. His hunch was right, and he had watched painfully as his boy sank into a depression once again when she was taken away.

He knew that Ichigo would go after her. Urahara had assured him that everything had gone according to the plan, and Ryuuken's boy and Yoruichi were going with him as well. Yet, as he waited on the cold roof for his son to slip away into the night, he felt as trapped and as disheartened as he had on the night Masaki died. Once again, another precious person was running headlong into danger to save someone they loved. And once again, he was in disguise.


End file.
